On a tough night for Democrats in Lake County, Lorraine Fende stood out.

She retained her Lake County treasurer position by fending off Republican opponent Thomas V. Tuttle 54,111 votes to 49,808, according to unofficial, final election results from the Lake County Elections Board.

“I’m so excited,” she said. “It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve the residents of Lake County for the last three years, and I’m thrilled that they’ve elected me to do my job for four more years.”

The term begins in September 2017.

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Fende has never lost a race in 29 years in public office. She previously served as Ohio state representative, Willowick mayor and on Willowick City Council.

“I think people know, when they vote for me, they know what they’re getting,” she said. “They know they’re getting someone who is going to work real hard for them.”

Her No. 1 goal is to continue aggressively pursuing the delinquent taxes in the county.

The treasurer’s salary will be $75,273 annually next year.

Meanwhile, Republican Becky Lynch of Mentor defeated incumbent Lake County Recorder Ann Radcliffe by an unofficial, final tally of 52,288 to 49,466.

She refers to herself as a record-keeping “hawk” with an eye for accuracy and detail. Her goals include being more involved in commissioner meetings,

recommending that the services/fees of ready access and indexing information be on OhioCheckbook.com and preserving private property rights.

“The citizens of Lake County can count on me to uphold, honor and perform,” she said prior to the election, “to uphold the perspective of ‘We the people’ empowerment, to honor the elected confidence placed in me by the trust of their vote, and to perform the important tasks of county recorder with dedication and sincerity.”

Radcliffe has served four years as recorder and had 27 years of experience in the office as a real estate title examiner.

The new term begins Jan. 2, and the salary will be $71,951.

Attempts to reach Lynch, Radcliffe and Tuttle on Election Night for comment were unsuccessful.